Title: (I Just Want You To) Be Happy

Author: stileslydiamartinstilinski (Tumblr) XOXOS24 (AO3)

Rating: T

Word Count: 8,509

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf.

A/N: So a few things about this story. This is a combination of Tumblr user stydiaa 's idea for a fic and my idea for a fic. It's great because she wanted me to write a story that I had no ending for and I had a one shot brewing in my mind that I didn't have a beginning for. So after a long process of planning and writing this is the finished product. I hope I satiated what she wanted to see in the fic (Malia being able to smell the romantic emotions between Stiles and Lydia) and me wanting a fic inspired heavily by the song Vindicated by Dashboard Confessional. I am so sorry that it took me so long to write.

I struggled with a lot of things as I wrote this story. So please keep in mind I tried very hard not to make Malia the enemy here or anything because it was easier to make her be nice and want the best for Stiles and Lydia. So I'm sorry if I didn't write her in quite the right way that you wanted to see her be. There are also a good bit of Stydia stories like this out there now too so I am so sorry if you think this is redundant or boring because you've seen it before in a fic. Also keep in mind I've only actually bowled a total of once in my life so basically all I know about bowling, I learned from the Wii, so please don't hate me for inaccuracy. There is a Mean Girls spoiler in here too, but I mean it's been ten years so you shouldn't be spoiled at this point, but I'm warning you guys just in case.

To be honest I had some issues with details in this story and sometimes I felt as if I wasn't bringing the point across well enough. So I'm sorry if I don't make things seem real enough or if there isn't enough detail. This took me a long time to write so I struggled to be consistent at some points. There is also bound to be some spelling and grammar mistakes too.

If you like this story please review, I love feedback.

And finally, there are six songs that really helped inspire me to write this fic and I will list them below. Also I listened to the Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix #1 as I got to the final parts of this fic so I'm giving credit to that for helping me power through writing the last bit of this fic. So anyways the six songs that inspired this fic:

1. Not A Bad Thing – Justin Timberlake

2. Suddenly – Ina

3. Catch Me – Demi Lovato

4. It Was Always You – Maroon 5

5. Please Don't Go – Against Grace

6. Vindicated – Dashboard Confessional (Heavy inspiration from this song)

It was a relatively calm Friday afternoon in the halls of Beacon Hills High School, a very rare and seldom occasion to be had. There was always the threat of a supernatural issue but things were currently calm and relatively collected. Lydia was doing her best to befriend Kira and Malia but it was easier said than done. Kira was relatively easy to get along with and fit into the group fairly well, Malia was a still bit rough around the edges. And that probably would have been a bit easy to handle if Lydia still had Allison to vent to. Malia was definitely no Allison Argent. Lydia was wary of the were-coyote but in times of crisis she was forced to internalize her doubts about the girl.

Everyone had their own things that they were working on or trying to be involved in while they took a break from the supernatural craziness. Scott and Stiles were working hard to keep their grades up, Kira was practicing her lacrosse skills, Liam was learning to control his shift, Malia was learning human skills and how to properly smell emotions and to detect erratic heartbeats. Lydia however was just doing her best trying to deal with the day to day.

When Stiles had fell under the Nogitsune's possession Lydia had realized just how much she cared about Stiles. It wasn't just a feeling of friendship either, no it was something deeper. Something she had only experienced only one other time. Love. And this was a different kind of love. This was the type of life altering love that her late best friend Allison Argent had once described to her one night, almost a year ago. The type of love that causes you to lose your breath and the kind that causes never ending butterflies at the sight of him, the mention of his name, or the sound of his voice. It was utterly terrifying to be experiencing and to not tell a single soul of it. And to make matters worse, even if she wanted to talk about it she couldn't. He was happy, with someone else. That's what hurt the worse.

"Lydia, what about you are you coming tonight?" Malia's voice called out to her as the strawberry blonde pulled books from her locker.

"I'm sorry, coming where?" She asked shaking her head in attempt to escape her daydream.

"Bowling, we're going bowling tonight. I was wondering if you were going to." Malia explained.

"Oh…um. Probably not. I uh-have an essay I need to get started on." Lydia responded and closed her locker door. She felt a pang of hurt hit her heart for so many reasons. The last time she had been bowling, it had been with Allison and she had still been dating Jackson. She was over him and the bad taste he left in her mouth but there was something quite painful about Allison missing. It made it more evident that life moves on even after loss and it's not fair that everything changes without consent. Lydia couldn't even bear the thought of going. Because not only would Allison be gone but she'd also have to sit through the pain of watching Stiles and Malia be together all night long and if she could avoid that suffering why wouldn't she? Distancing herself seemed like the only thing that made sense.

"Lydia you know you could write that essay within three hours. Come on you should go with us." Kira begged. "It will be fun." She nudged Lydia softly in the side.

"Yeah it totally will be!" Malia added and imitated Kira's nudge but with considerably more force than the she had.

"Ow!" Lydia screeched, before rubbing her torso in attempt to numb the pain.

"Oops." Was all Malia could utter; unaware of manners and the fact that she should have replied with a I'm sorry. Lydia was about to respond with a not so kind remark when she heard a familiar voice that sent her heartbeat to go into overdrive. She didn't even have to look up to know it was him, she was just that aware of him.

"What are you girls talking about?" Stiles asked the group as he walked towards them with his partner in crime, Scott McCall.

"Oh we were just trying to convince Lydia to go out with us tonight. But she told us that she has an essay to write." Kira said, catching the boys up on the conversation.

"Lydia you totally know you could write an essay on any subject in less than an hour. And besides you do know that it's not due for another month, right?" Stiles told her as she looked up at him and her eyes focused on his face with his lopsided smile that was just one part of him that she was slowly falling for more and more every day. She quickly tried to focus on something else other than him because her heartbeat was growing more rapid by the second and when her eyes lingered over him she could feel the want, no the need, inside her growing. And those were two things that his current girlfriend didn't need to point out, especially since it already looking at her as if she was growing suspicious.

"Yeah, Lydia you should totally tag along." Scott added, aware of the fact that she was probably feeling lonely without Allison or a boyfriend to hang out with.

"I really shouldn't. I have a few equations I need to do…" she began but was cut off by Kira.

"Lydia come on, you have to come. Stop making excuses." She said to Lydia and her resolve was faltering by the minute.

"Please come with us Lydia, it won't be the same if you aren't there." Stiles said to her. And that was it; there was no way she could say no to him anymore. Especially after he said he wanted her to be there. She knew she would probably end up feeling like the fifth wheel but she really missed spending time with him in any form and if this was her opportunity to do she was going to have to comply.

"Alright. Fine." She breathed, trying her best to make it sound like a hard decision, at first it had been but after Stiles had invited her, it wasn't the least bit hard to decide. It was getting really hard to say no to him.

"Oh my god, really? I never thought you would say yes!" Kira said. "Do you want to come over to my house afterwards Lydia?"

"Yeah that should be fine. I'm sure my mom won't mind." Lydia said, smiling at her friend. Lydia's mom never really cared if she was out on a Friday night or any night for that matter. But her mother really liked to see her hanging out with a good influence like Kira. And after getting to know Mr. Yukimaura through various faculty events she was sure that he and his wife wouldn't let them get into too much trouble, it was always nice to have one less thing to worry about.

"Oh yay, that's awesome!" Kira responded with an excited smile. Even though she was no Allison, Kira was a pretty good friend, so genuine and kind. Lydia could always use more friends with qualities like that. Lydia looked over to the direction of where Stiles and Malia were, her arm was wrapped around his waist, Lydia could feel an uncontrollable surge of jealousy fill her body and just as she did she caught the sight of Malia, she seemed to be sniffing the air. Oh no.

"Um I guess I'll see you later then." Lydia flashed a fake smile and began to back away from everyone and towards the doors to the parking lot. "Uh what time should I meet you there?" She called out.

"Seven thirty!" Scott replied. Lydia nodded her head and quickly turned around and made a beeline for the door before Malia could ask Lydia about the scent radiating off of her body.

Lydia felt like she could finally breathe once she had made it to the driver's seat of her Toyota. Lately she always seemed to be waiting to exhale when she was around Stiles. She was always wound up so tight when she thought of him or was in his presence. But at the same time she felt like she couldn't wait to see him either. It was a constant battle because she longed to be in his presence but when she was, she could hardly concentrate. When Malia was there, a rage fueled by jealousy threatened to take over her body. It was getting difficult to handle to say the least. She just hoped that she could keep her emotions under control for the night, which was going to be difficult if she was going to be the fifth wheel to Scott and Kira and (more importantly and uncomfortably) Stiles and Malia. It was going to be interesting.

Scott and Kira were already in the parking lot dismounting Scott's motor bike when Lydia pulled into the parking lot. Lydia decided that even if she hated being a third (and tonight she would be the fifth) wheel, with Scott and Kira it was somehow tolerable. They were always cute and happy around each other but it they never went overboard. She never felt like they were shoving it down her throat that she was single, they were subtle with PDA and she could tell they really cared about each other. They were both so genuinely into each other with the same amount of dedication and Lydia had to appreciate that.

"Hey Lydia!" Kira waved and smiled widely as Lydia exited her car and returned the gesture.

"Hi guys." She said as she walked to meet them at the front of her car, Prada handbag slung over her shoulder.

"Really glad you decided to come." Scott said with such a genuine smile. It made her feel bad she had originally planned on not attending. He was literally the most kind and understanding person she knew, he out of anyone didn't deserve all of the stuff that had happened over the past year.

"Malia says her and Stiles are running late. We can just go ahead inside and wait for them." Kira said as she looked at the text message on her phone. Lydia could feel the annoyance and jealousy flow through her at the mention of Stiles and Malia's names together but she quickly tried to suppress it, in fear that Scott might pick up on it or an erratic heartbeat. Sometimes it made her particularly annoyed or even angry that she had to keep herself from feeling things, that her emotions weren't really her own anymore. She knew Scott would never use it against her or say anything aloud, or even about it at all. Plus trying to conceal her emotions around him was just good practice for when she was trying to around Malia. She sure as hell would say something in a heartbeat, or about her rapid heartbeat. And she wasn't positive that she'd be able to explain herself.

"Yeah that sounds good, we can go in." Lydia nodded and followed the couple into the dated building.

The three of them were inside they were assigned a lane and given the proper size bowling shoes (and Lydia complained about them to no end, of course) they settled into their lane and strapped on their shoes. Lydia felt light and happy, Scott and Kira were so laid back and just easy to get along with, very unlike her she deduced.

"Stiles, they're over here." Lydia heard Malia's voice from across the large room and immediately the nice feeling she was enjoying, evaporated in mere milliseconds.

"Hey!" Scott greeted and Lydia looked up at Stiles and Malia and flashed a fake smile in their direction as they plopped down next to each other on two of the seats at the lane.

"Hey, man what's up?" Stiles asked as he proceeded to put on his bowling shoes.

Lydia sighed and began to zone out for a bit after that. She was there but wrapped up in her own thoughts. It wasn't entirely her fault though because Stiles and Scott began to talk to each other and so did Malia and Kira. Lydia figured the two of them had more in common with each other than they did with her, with being creatures with actual tangible abilities, very unlike her. Their connection was probably easier to make, and besides before Allison Lydia hadn't really had too many good friends that were of the female variety.

"Lydia, hey, you're up!" Stiles said suddenly, as he stood in front of her and waved one of his very large and attractive hands in front of her face.

"Oh…um. Okay, sorry." She managed to sputter out as he took his seat and she went to retrieve her ball for the first time of the night. Her mind was in such a haze after staring off into space, only to be brought back by Stiles, of all people. Her heart was pounding out of her chest and she couldn't even think properly enough to try and slow it. The bright fuchsia bowling ball practically fell out of her hands and right into the gutter. Lydia could feel her face turn red. It was pretty embarrassing considering how good she actually was at the sport. It was just one of her many talents.

"It's okay!" Kira called out to Lydia "I got a gutter ball this round too!" Lydia turned around to face the group; no one looked particularly surprised with her failed attempt at bowling because they were all sort of terrible. Scott was the only one who shared a different look, a sympathetic and a seemingly all-knowing smile too. Shit. He had been out bowling with her before and knew that she was in fact; an excellent bowler and she had only faked being bad at it for the sake of Jackson's easily bruised ego. There was no way her nervous fumble could have gone unnoticed by him, and if he noticed that she was sure he knew the cause of it was due to her three and a half second interaction with Stiles.

"It really doesn't matter if you suck at it Lydia, it's not like any of us are good at it!" Stiles said as Lydia reached down to grab the pink ball again. She calmed down slightly at the sound of his words and inhaled deeply as she faced the pins. She released the ball and knocked over five pins, definitely not her best but she was still a bit thrown off. Lydia plastered on a smile before turning around and returning to the group.

"See there you go, better already. No one does well on their first try." Stiles told her as he pointed to the scorecard on the overhead TV, he was right; no one had knocked over more than seven pins in the first frame.

"Well five is better than three." Lydia agreed, referring to the whopping three pins that Stiles had managed to knock over.

"I guess you're going to have to teach me how your ways then, so I can knock down two whole extra pins." He joked, making her smile. Her heart raced from exchanging just a few meaningless words with him. Despite how nervous he was starting to make her, he was also the one who made her feel relaxed and at ease.

"I guess I will." She smirked, planning to show of her otherwise impeccable skills.

And that she did. After she fumbled in the first frame, she tried to focus all of her energy on the game and not on Stiles. That became relatively hard to do. Especially since he was a horrible bowler and requested guidance after he lost the first two rounds and she won them. So the third game was rough for her. Considering he (and everyone else for that matter) encouraged her to show him the proper form and rolling techniques which ended up requiring them to be in close proximity.

"Like this?" He asked for what Lydia swore was the millionth time.

"No, Stiles. Like this." She replied, moving his arm to the correct position from where she was standing on his side. It was impossible to ignore how good touching him felt. She could feel the muscles in his forearm move against her small fingers. It felt so right to have her skin on his.

"Oh I see. Like that." He commented rather softly after a few seconds, the softness was different than his voice had been previously and it grabbed her attention. When she turned to look up at him she assumed he would be looking at the ball or the lane or anywhere but her. He was staring right at her with a fond smile on his face that caused her to smile before turning away with a blush. It had felt so…intimate and she couldn't take it. It felt so wrong to share such a look if he was with someone else, someone who was sitting seven feet away. It was so unfair because all she could imagine doing was soaking it up and she just couldn't. She was finally ready and now he was with someone else.

"Mhm. Now just rotate your arm back, push it forward and…let go." She instructed, taking a step back so he could do it himself. He did as she told and the ball collided with the pins and all ten went tumbling.

"Oh-oh my god. I got a strike!" He said after realizing he did indeed get his first strike of the night, and probably the first strike of his life that wasn't on Wii bowling.

"Congratulations." Lydia replied dryly before he picked her up and spun her around a few times, fueled by utter excitement.

"My first strike! I got a strike! I knocked all of the pins down!" He then put her down and pumped his fists in the air. Luckily the middle school children, guests at a boy's seventh birthday party, and the groups of dads with a mid-life crisis didn't seem to care too much.

Lydia was frozen in her spot for a minute as Stiles went to receive a round of high fives from the rest of the group. Inside she was exploding. Her body was overheating due to wide range of emotions she was experiencing and the fact that the whole front of her body had just been pressed up against the whole front of his body. She desperately tried not to think about that and how she wished their bodies could do that again, only for longer, without clothes, and behind closed doors. She shook the thought out of her head as he bounded back over to her like an excited little puppy.

"Thanks, couldn't have done it without you!" Stiles said, grinning widely and placed his hand gently on her shoulder.

"I'm glad I could help." She smiled softly and returned to her seat to wait her turn.

They decided to call it quits when Lydia won the third game and they went to the snack bar and ordered some sad excuses of nachos and slices of pizza, but it was all part of the experience. Five stomach aches later they all decided to part ways for the night and Lydia was a little bit glad because she was a bit high strung on emotions and was ready to wind down for a relaxing night of girl talk and facial masks with Kira.

After everyone had parted their ways, Stiles proceeded to drive Malia back to her house. The entire time they drove to the Tate residence the silence was deafening and Stiles was extra awkward (if you can believe it) during times of silence. He had tried to start up a conversation a few times on the way there but he was only met with one worded and emotionless answers or shoulder shrugs.

"Alright, out with it. What's wrong? Did I do something?" Stiles asked after putting his Jeep into the park gear.

"I have a question for you." She said, ignoring his words.

"Um okay. What is it?" He asked nervously.

"Are you in love with Scott?" She asked, face void of emotion.

"What?!" He cried.

"Are you in love with Scott? Are you interested in him in the romantic or sexual sense?" She asked again, her face giving him no hints as to what she was doing.

"No, of course not. Why are you asking this?" He wondered aloud.

"Don't worry about it!" She said with force, causing him to shrink slightly into the seat.

"Geez, alright. Is that the only thing you wanted to ask me?"

"No, what about Kira?"

"No."

"Derek?" She asked, eyebrows raised.

"Derek as in Derek Hale? Hell no, I'm not in love with sour wolf."

"Me, what about me Stiles?" Her voice was powerful but vulnerable at the same time and he still wasn't sure what her angle was and if the end result was going to put him in a cast.

"Malia I'm not sure we've reached that stage ye-" He said before Malia cut him off.

"Okay what about Lydia, do you love her?"

"Yes. I mean. No. No I don't love Lydia." He said catching himself, he was so used to professing and admitting his love for the Lydia Martin, it was a natural reaction for him to own up to it.

"Do you love her?"

"No, I mean I used to but not anymore."

"Bullshit. You're lying to me and yourself frankly."

"What are you talking about?"

"Stiles just when I mentioned her name, your heart sped up and I can smell the way you adore her and would do anything for her. You love her. Admit it." Malia said, staring at him and as much as he thought he was over Lydia, he could still feel so many residual feelings for her. How do you just stop loving someone? Just because his mom was no longer around, sure as hell didn't mean that he stopped loving her. So how can you stop loving someone you've loved for eight years who is still alive and well?

"Malia, I don't know…"

"Stiles! STOP LYING!" She growled at him and her eyes flashed blue before calming down after a few seconds. "Please just say it aloud. If you say it aloud I'll be able to accept it. I'll have to. I won't be able to pretend that I just didn't hear your heart speed up when you see her or hear her name. Okay? Then you can go and be happy with her. I'd rather be alone than have you still be in love with someone else. Because God knows you don't love me."

"Okay, my heart does not speed up when I see her. And even if it's true that I love her that doesn't mean I don't still care about you. We've not been together that long to know."

"Stiles we are barley even together. I know we're not at that spot to say 'I love you' but I can tell you like her a lot more than me."

"You can care about more than one person at once you know and I think my feelings for her have faded."

"No they totally haven't. When you were talking to her I could smell the attraction you had for her and it smelled a lot more powerful than the attraction you have for me. And I know you're a good bowler by the way, I could also smell the deception of you faking it. You just wanted her help."

They sat there in silence for a few moments as he tried to process everything that was happening. If he really thought about it, he did love Lydia and he couldn't help that and he was sure that was easy to pick up on when his guard was down, and his guard was always down with Lydia, she made him feel safe, like he was home or something. Even though Malia had yelled at him before, she seemed relatively and eerily calm now and it was kind of freaking him out.

"Alright so maybe…maybe I do have feelings for her still. But why aren't you more upset about this."

"We aren't really dating Stiles; we've just had sex a few times and you taught me how to multiply and divide." Malia said her bluntness evident. "I care about you, but I don't love you."

"Okay." He breathed. "But why does it matter that I still love Lydia? I don't know if I'll ever stop caring about her but I can care about you too."

"I'm sure you could. But she cares about you a lot more than I do Stiles and you care more about her than you do about me."

"She cares about me…a lot?" He questioned looking at her with confusion on his face.

"You're so dense. How can you not see it? The smell is almost enough to make me gag."

"Wait…what?"

"Stiles. She is hopelessly in love with you!"

"Huh?"

"Stiles I've smelled it ever since I've joined the pack and it only gets stronger. She is totally in love with you and she gets nervous when you're around. And when your around her the scents mix and it becomes unbearable."

"Let me get this straight. I love Lydia Martin, and Lydia Martin loves me?"

"Yeah but she has no clue, she thinks your with me to get over her, which may be true but it didn't work. No matter if you tell yourself you're over her your feelings for her just get stronger every single day, just like hers do."

"This is…intense. Are you sure she is in love with me?"

"One hundred percent sure."

"Wow."

"Stiles I like you, a lot. But I can't be with you; you're in love with someone else. If she didn't love you back… maybe I wouldn't have said anything, but she does. And she's been so jealous this whole time and I can't help but feel like I'm standing in the way of soul mates or something. I think you two were made to be together. You're never going to love anyone the way you love her or the way she loves you. You're going to be so much happier with her Stiles. God if you could see the way you look at each other…"

"Malia, I'm sorry. You don't have to do this."

"No Stiles I really do. Just go and show each other how much you love her okay? You guys have this natural scent when you're around each other and it mixes perfectly and it's so weird and just…Stiles just go be happy with her okay. You don't love me, I don't love you. You love Lydia." Malia said before exiting the Jeep and walking into her house.

Stiles sat there for a few moments completely confused by everything that had just unfolded and he had no idea what to do or what to think about any of it. So he did the sensible thing and went home and went to bed to try to understand any of what had just happened because he was pretty sure none of it felt real.

Lydia and Kira were snuggled up among blankets and pillows on the Yukimura's living room floor way past midnight watching Mean Girls and indulging in some snacks as well. They had already watched 13 Going on 30 and Dirty Dancing and had decided that Mean Girls would be a good one to end the night on. It was nice, Kira was so easy to hang out and Lydia never had to worry about letting her guard down around her, she could eat ten slices of pizza if she wanted and Kira would never judge her. She was glad to call her a friend.

"Lydia…if you were jealous of someone…would you push them out in front of a bus?" Kira asked after seeing Regina George getting pushed in front of one, Kira was slightly delirious due to the fact that it was two in the morning.

"Mmm, probably not. Depends on who it is I suppose." Lydia said.

"So would you push Malia in front of a bus?"

"Why would I push Malia in front of a bus?" Lydia asked as she switched her focus from the TV and to her friend.

"Because you're jealous that she is sort of with Stiles." Kira said after muting the movie.

"Who told you that? I'm not jealous!" Lydia said defensively.

"Lydia I totally see the way you act around him. I mean you make it less obvious than I do but I mean you totally like Stiles. So wouldn't you be jealous of her, even a little bit?" Kira said, rambling significantly.

"I don't look at Stiles any differently than I look at you or Scott."

"Lydia. Scott told me he caught your scent."

"And?"

"And he said that you totally get nervous around Stiles and jealous when Malia is around. I mean I already knew you liked him…even love him maybe I just needed confirmation from Scott."

"You asked Scott to smell if I liked Stiles?" Lydia asked incredulously.

"A-ha! So you do like him!" Kira accused with a smile, studying Lydia's face for a reaction. Lydia had tried so hard to hide these feelings; it wasn't fair that Scott could just smell to see if they were there. "He said you both smell like…desire when you're around each other. Like your super attracted to each other or something."

"Alright! Fine I like him okay! I love Stiles. But it doesn't matter it's not like I can do anything about it." She said to Kira, annoyed that everyone apparently already knew her secret.

"I didn't mean to intrude on your feelings but I just wanted to know for sure so I could tell you that you need to say something. Your feelings for each other are really intense; he has a right to know."

"I can't do that to him."

"Why not?"

"Because I lost my chance with him okay? He doesn't like me anymore or love me or anything. He only likes me as a friend. It would be unfair of me to tell him. I'm too late. He's with someone else, and he's happy. I can't do that to him. I'm not that girl anymore. I love him too much to hurt him like that. It's better if I suffer, it's my fault anyways. So can we please just finish the movie?" Lydia said in one breath, inhaling after her last word.

"Yeah that sounds good." Kira offered a small smile, knowing it was time to move on. Lydia was hurting and she doubted dwelling on it would make her feel any better, so they finished the movie and went to sleep not long after. Lydia felt bad but she knew talking about it aloud would only make it more real and it would only hurt more.

One full week had passed since the momentous night of the bowling outing. Despite everything that had seemed to transpire that night, nothing had happened between Stiles and Lydia. Things had just been like they had before that night. They still talked as friends and basically everyone else could smell the attraction between the two. Stiles still wasn't totally sure she was into him though so he didn't say anything and Lydia still thought Stiles and Malia were together in some capacity so of course, she didn't say anything either. The whole situation was just overall sad and pathetic.

Scott though, always had a plan. He initiated phase one on Stiles while they talked in the hallway while Kira was working on phase two with Lydia in the library during their study hall period.

"Stiles I was thinking that we should try to get a leg up on all of these supernatural creatures you know? Like instead of waiting for them to come to us and then we know nothing. Maybe we should try to figure out what else is out there."

"Like pre-emptive research? I mean I'm sure that wouldn't hurt. We could maybe see what else is in the Argent's bestiary too." Stiles suggested as the two walked down the long hallway. "When should we start?"

"Maybe tonight? I mean it's never too early to start."

"Yeah I guess you're right. Do you want to come over right after school or later?"

"Oh well I would but me and Kira sort of have a date tonight."

"You suggest we research and then you leave me without a research partner?" Stiles complained.

"Hey I'm not even good at research or anything. But Lydia is. I'll tell her to be at your house around eight okay?" Scott asked as he started to back away from Stiles and the conversation.

"Scott, what?! No!"

"Come on it will be fine; you'll thank me in the end." Scott called out before turning around and walking away, leaving Stiles to deal with his own frustration.

"Scott wanted me to tell you that he needs you and Stiles to do some preemptive research on supernatural beings and occurrences tonight around eight." Kira whispered to her friend who was engrossed in a calculus problem.

"Tonight? With Stiles. What if I already have plans?"

"You already told me you don't."

"Kira, I don't think that is such a good idea. I can't be around Stiles alone for that long."

"Why not?"

Lydia sighed. "You remember how I told you that I like him, right? And how things are complicate because he sort of has a girlfriend?"

"Lydia, Stiles and Malia were never officially a couple. And even so that doesn't matter anymore."

"And why not?"

"Because, Malia ended whatever was happening between them."

"That doesn't make any sense. Why would she do that?" Lydia said, trying to process the new information she had been given.

"Malia told me that she could smell the attraction and…love between you two. And that he would never feel the same way about her that he feels for you. And she could never love him like you love him." Kira explained and Lydia stayed silent for a good solid minute before responding.

"Are you sure that's the truth? Because if you're making this up, that's a horrible thing to do, you know that right?"

"I swear to God, Malia told me herself. You should tell him how you feel. Before another girl comes along, one who isn't nice enough to do what Malia did."

"When should I tell him? What should I tell him?" Lydia asked, not really believing that she was now the one asking for boy advice. She had never done this before, but then again she had never felt this way about someone before, Stiles wasn't just a regular boy. He was different, he was so important to her, it hurt sometime.

"Tonight. Go over to his house to help with the 'research' and just be honest with him. Let your walls down and tell him." Kira said seriously. She knew Lydia had a tendency to not let anyone in, not after being hurt so many times in the past. When she started to care she just got hurt.

"I don't want to get hurt." Lydia said with such honesty it caught Kira a bit off guard.

"Trust me, the last thing Stiles wants to do is hurt you." Kira said placing a hand on her friend's arm for gentle reassurance.

Lydia nodded. "Alright, okay. I'll tell him. I should get going." She said as she began to shut down her lap top and collect her books.

"Good. Tell me what happens."

"I will." Lydia stood. "And I'll try to make sure I fit in some research on thunder Kitsunes." Lydia said smirking as she turned on her heel. Scott and Kira sure did make a good team when it came to plotting and scheming.

Lydia made it to Stiles' house around eight fifteen in an effort to not seem so eager, just as the Sheriff was headed to the station to take his weekly round of the night shift, and God knows that Beacon Hills could use all the help they could get at all hours of the night.

Admittedly it was somewhat awkward between Stiles and Lydia at first, both knowing full well that there was no real research to be done, but neither of them knew that the other one was aware of the fact.

At around eleven o'clock Stiles had about had enough. They were getting along and talking here and there just fine, they had even ordered a pizza and binged out during a break from not researching anything of importance. He could hardly stand the fact that she was in such close proximity to him and at a place in time where things were completely not tense in the slightest, which never happened anymore. They weren't even enjoying themselves really, even though they had been talking to each other all night, things still felt so tense in his room, it was crazy. He couldn't take it anymore so he set the book he was reading from and stood up from his place where he had been sitting on the bed.

"What are you doing?" Lydia eyed him from where she sat at his desk, on his laptop, pretending to research on the various types of Kitsunes that apparently existed. Stiles set the book down on the desk and leaned over her shoulder to look at the screen as he placed one hand on the back of the computer chair while the other was braced against the desk. His juxtaposition caused her breath to hitch slightly but he didn't seem to notice.

"I'm bored, I get antsy if I sit too long doing something that isn't very interesting. What about you? What are you looking at?" He said as his eyes scanned the information on the screen.

"The different variations of Kitsunes, I feel like we'll definitely run into a few more of them at some point."

"Yeah it wouldn't surprise me." He nodded and the pair was silent for a moment until Lydia exited out of the window and stood up from the chair as her emotions had started to overwhelm her and she felt like she was going to explode if she kept her face that close to him for any longer. "Um I thought you were researching…?" He said as his body turned to face her as she paced around the room

"Well if you get a break so should I." She said and he had to agree. But a minute or two went by and Lydia was still pacing quite a lot and looking very distraught overall.

"Hey Lydia…are you okay?" He asked tentatively.

"Just can you hold on a minute, I'm trying to think of a good way to say this okay?" She said, speaking quickly and glancing at him before returning to walking around his room and wringing her small hands around.

"What's going on? What so important?" he asked stepping slightly closer to her, "What do you need to tell me?"

"God Stiles can't you see that I'm trying to tell you that I like you? That I'm falling in love with you, and you can't wait five seconds for me to figure out a way to tell you?" She said with a slight shout causing him to take a half a step away from her. "And this is so not how I wanted to tell you but you are so goddamn impatient you know that right?"

"I'm aware." He said calmly with a small smile.

"Wait, I just said that I love you. Why are you the one that is calm right now?" She said, her face filled with concern and slight shock.

"Because I already know, and I'm trying to be happy about the fact that you just told me that you love me." He answered, smile growing while Lydia's face relaxed slightly.

"You already knew?" She asked distraught littering her face, somewhat upset that she wasn't able to tell him first.

"Yeah, but I mean it's totally okay." He said sensing she was slightly upset still. "I mean it still sounds pretty amazing hearing it actually come out of your mouth instead of hearing it from someone else." He meant every word too; it felt so good hear it escape her lips with such honesty, it made it seem a hell of a lot more real. "It's kind of hard to believe it when someone else says it."

"Oh my god, I still seriously can't believe I just told you that I love you. And in such an unromantic and totally terrible way, I am so bad at this." She said, slightly angry that she had let the words slip out in such haste. She covered her face with her hands in embarrassment.

"Hey…hey no. Don't worry about it. Don't be embarrassed." He told her before stepping closer to her, grabbing her hands to remove them from her beautiful face. "Trust me; it was amazing to hear, from you." He said honestly as her eyes looked up to meet his, even though there was a considerable height difference. "It was a very Lydia way of doing things." His lips turned into a small smile and she did too, relaxing as she heard his reassuring words.

"I just really couldn't hold it in any longer." She admitted.

"I know." He said biting his lower lip, her hands still cradled in his, resting in between their waists. She was kind of adorable right now, he liked to see her will her guard down.

"I feel like a horrible person though."

"Why?"

"I'm the reason for your break up with Malia apparently."

"Lydia, I'm not even sure if we were actually together. And really, if I'm honest with myself, every time I was with her I think I was secretly wishing it was you instead. I don't think I could ever just stop caring about you. I think I was just trying to be happy with someone, anyone, but my first was always going to end up being you. I love you." He said and she averted her eyes for a few seconds and when she met his again, tears welling up in her emerald eyes. "Oh my god did I say something wrong? What's wrong?"

"Stiles I'm scared."

"Why are you scared? Is there a new were-monster I'm unaware of?"

"No." She said as a tear ran down the side of her cheek. "I'm scared because I've never felt like this about anyone before. I've never been this open about how I feel and I've never felt this kind of love for someone Stiles. Anyone I've ever showed an ounce of this kind of feeling for left me feeling broken and wrecked, and if this doesn't work out…I don't want to know how bad that would hurt. That would hurt more than I can bear to imagine." She sniffled and tried to keep some sort of composure.

"Lydia the last thing I want to do is hurt you." He said bringing one of his hands to her face and wiping away the tear that had fallen. "Lydia…I'm scared too okay? But…God, if you let me be there for you, I would never do anything to hurt you. Never." He swallowed hard. "I've…loved you…for a long time and I would never be able to see you hurt. And if it was my fault I'd never live with myself." He whispered the next sentence, grazed her lips slightly with his thumb, his face had unintentionally gotten closer to hers, and she inhaled a deep breath.

Their faces were so impossibly close that they could hear every breath the other one took. Both sets of eyes kept glancing at the other, and stole quick but lingering looks at each other's lips. For minutes they just stood there, so close but yet just out of reach. His eyes couldn't focus on anything except her beautiful face and how she was looking at him like he was the only person in the world and he still couldn't comprehend that she was actually looking at him like that. This was a scene straight out of his dreams. Stiles was about to lean in closer when Lydia spoke.

"Stiles if you kiss me right now…you're not going to be able to get rid of me. I'm going to be hooked. And I'm such a mess, I have so much baggage, and…" Her face was so distraught but she couldn't deny that all she wanted to do was to kiss him. But she knew it was all going to be over if his lips touched hers.

"Lydia, I never want to get rid of you." He whispered so softly and lovingly that she swore her heart melted.

"Are you sure, because I mean you won't be able to get rid of me, ever. Not like in a month or a year, I mean like…ever. I'll latch onto you and you'll want me gone…" she kept rambling and her eyes kept looking at his lips, she was so scared still. She didn't want to be hurt, or to hurt him. Maybe it would be easier if she just left right now.

"Lydia?" He said, capturing her attention.

"What?" Her eyes glanced back to his brown ones.

"Shut up." He smiled, grabbing her waist with his free hand, crashing his lips down to hers before she could say anything.

Lydia felt relief wash over her as soon as his lips were on hers, she was instantly calmed because everything finally felt right. Her body responded right away. Her hands went from bracing herself on his torso to gently moving up his chest, to arms finally locking around his neck and fingers playing with the hair on the back of his neck and head. His body responded naturally too. His arm around her waist, pulling her as close to him as he could, and his other hand was gently placed in her long, wavy hair. Their lips molded flawlessly against each other, fitting together like two perfect puzzle pieces, sparks were flying everywhere as their lips moved together in perfection.

They eventually parted to get a full breath of air in their lungs. Stiles rested his forehead against hers and they stared into each other's eyes, both wearing matching smiles as they tried to catch their breaths.

"I really hope you were serious about never wanting to let me go, because I was right. I'm totally hooked onto you." Lydia admitted honestly.

"Well good, because I think I'm kind of attached to you now." He said with a genuine smile on his face. "Even more than before…if that's possible." Lydia just giggled and repositioned herself so her forehead was resting in the crook of his neck, in order to avoid straining her neck. Her arms were now around his torso and his were around her shoulders, holding her as close as he could.

"Sounds like we're perfect for each other then, huh?"

"Exactly." He said kissing her head as the stood there in content silence for a few moments, just soaking each other in before Lydia let out a yawn. "So do you want to stay here tonight?"

"I would totally love that." She told him. He ended up giving her his lacrosse sweatshirt and a pair of his boxers to sleep in. He was already tucked into bed with a tee shirt and a pair of pajama pants on when Lydia returned from the bathroom. She closed the door behind her and set her dirty clothes down by her bag. The room was only illuminated by the moonlight outside of the windows.

"Come here." Stiles said, reaching an arm out for her. She giggled and let him take her hand. He pulled her over him so she landed softly on the side of the bed by the wall. They both then got carefully tucked under his blue plaid comforter. Lydia nestled herself in the bed and sighed with contentment as they turned to face each other, huge smiles plastered on their faces.

"So…does this mean that we're together then?" Stiles asked, a bit insecurely, after all he never had been in a clear and defined relationship.

"Yeah, as long as that's what you want."

"I total want that." He admitted. "If of course that's what you want."

"I want that. I want everyone to know it too. I don't want to worry about someone else getting you." She said the soft part softly and looking down, she had said it before. She didn't want to be hurt.

"Well you definitely don't have to worry about that." Stiles said as he lifted her chin with his index finger to make sure she knew there was no one for him but her.

"Good." She smiled shyly and moved to give him a peck on the lips, causing him to smile wide.

"God I love you. And, God, that feels really good to say out loud." He told her as he moved a piece of her hair behind her ear, causing a blush to come across her face.

"I like to hear it." She giggled before yawning again.

"I guess we should probably go to sleep."

"Probably." She agreed. "Even if I don't want to."

"Yeah but we'll both still be here when we wake up. Unless you're planning on going somewhere?"

"Absolutely not." She said, eyelids beginning to get heavy.

"I'm glad we finally got this sorted out." His hand moved from her hair to her waist, leaving a trail of heat along her body to get there.

"Me too." She scooted closer to him so the fronts of their bodies her touching and Lydia never felt more safe in her life. She never felt more like she was home then she did right there in his arms. Her arms and hands managed to found a way to rest in between the two of them and was so nice to just be so close to him finally after watching him from a far for the past few months. It had been agony.

"I love you." He said, leaning his nose down to bump hers, since their faces were so close together.

"I love you." She said as he kissed her nose. "I love you." She said again, kissing his cheek. "I love you." She said one final time before moving to kiss him fully on the lips. And all was right. "Goodnight." She told him finally before settling back down next to his warm body. They both drifted off peacefully in each other's loving presence.